Site Details- Site buildings, Hospital, Gallery, Offices, Residential, Retail, Parking, Transportation,other(general and site specific) – Jignesh Rathod.
Kings Cross redevelopment process after the arrival of Eurostar, is a landmark specimen of Urban Rejuvenation not only in UK but whole of Europe which have very prominent heritage buildings with deep routed cultural and historic importance.
London’s progress in the field of transportation and its hub being Kings Cross, has led to the transformation of its surrounding making Kings Cross a destination of its own. This development is quite evident in its immediate surrounding that is from the selected patch of land that marks the focus of study, termed as the ‘site’. It commences from the emerging iconic structure of the lighthouse currently under construction across the junction of Kings Cross St. Pancras Station. It acts as the starting tip of the site dividing the critical junction of Euston road alongside station into the Grays Inn Road and Pentonville Road. The site spans along the Grays Inn road and Pentonville – Kings Cross Road, extending up to Swinton Street. Long streets starting at various junctions on the exterior of the island pave way into its interiors by crossing over the exposed underground railway lines of kings cross station connecting Grays Inn Road and Kings Cross Road. These streets, namely Field Street, Leek Street, Britannia Street, Wicklow Street and Swinton Street spanning east-west and the exposed underground railway lines running north-south across the site on its mid-section, all divide the site into various small sectors.
All the streets of the site have several distinguished aspects making them different from each other to some extent while their similarities keep them intact forming a part of the same selected site. This part housing a range of activities works well with its surroundings making the entire Kings Cross St. Pancras a destination area on its own.
The site inhabits spaces that carry out distinct functions, ranging from residential and retail spaces to commercial and public welfare spaces. More precisely, it consists of a combination of private and rented houses and apartments, retail shops and boutiques, commercial spaces like offices, conference and meeting centre along with a wide selection between spaces providing hospitality like hotels and paid-lodges along with fine dine restaurants and remarkable pubs, art and performance spaces that include galleries, film studios, music venue and theatre; public welfare spaces housed in the area are institute of race relations, charity centre, part of Kings Cross St. Pancras Station, old fire station and medical research centres, hospital and local health service i.e. NHS clinic.
Detailed list of Spaces:
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Residential |
Private and Rented; major ones are Willings House, Pioneer House, Derby Lodge. |
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Retail and Services |
Americana Cosmetics and Abada Centre, Digital Lights, Ariana, Tatoo Parlour, Daytona Motorcycles (Repairs and Services), Kings Cross Scooters, GS Plumbing, 2k Mirrors, Pure Essentials (Saloon), Car Park (Pay and Park) Breathless (boutique), Take On Services, Day by Day Art and Interiors. |
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Business Centres and Offices |
London Regional Transport Cleaning Services, Kings Cross Media, MTL Software Services, PPR Training and Recruitment, Squire and Partners (Architects), GVEP International, London General Omnibus Company, Key Travels Agency, Tait Technologies, Britannia Conference and Meeting Centre, Clara Vale (Contractors), Interlegal Translations, Trio News, Lanyon Hogg Architects, Heatherwick Studio. |
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Hotels and Lodges |
Travel Lodge, Cottespar Hotel, Swinton Hotel. |
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Restaurants and Pubs |
Big Chill House, St. Chad’s Pub, Pasta House, Royal Pizza, The Joint, The Lion (Pub), Paolina Thai Café, Bamboo (Restaurant), Star (Kebab Shop), Ribs and Rooster, The Northumberland Arms (Pub), Smithy’s (Restaurant and Wine Bar). |
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Performance & Arts and Leisure |
Scala Club, Hurricane Room (snooker and pool bar), Dog Eared Film Studio and Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Water Rats Theatre and Bar (live music venue). |
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Public Welfare |
Kings Cross Underground Station, The old Fire Station, Help the Hospices (charity group) and Hospices House, Kings Cross Road Surgery, Audiology Centre, The Nuffield Hearing and Speech Centre, Deafness Research Centre, The General Chiropractic Council, The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. |
The site consists less of residential spaces in comparison to the other defined groups, this is mainly because of the constant increase in property rates over time. May be this is a prime factor why there are more of rented apartments then private in Kings Cross today.
Although, the site is located a few steps away from the station, the inner streets of the islands are not usually very crowded unlike its main roads like Grays Inn Road and Pentonville – Kings Cross Road that connect Euston Road alongside the station. This offers a peaceful location in an area of complete hustle and bustle, which is quite an unusual finding in a Cosmo metropolitan city like London making it desired by many despite of the areas negative factors. With the growing popularity of the area and the sites closeness to the transport hub, the site has in last few years seen huge movement in for lot of commercial offices and retail spaces. The hotels and lodges located in the site offer large number of occupancies, more over they are also placed strategically very well in closed proximity to the Kings Cross station resulting in their fully booked occupancy status throughout the year. What adds up in attracting people to this site is also its highly rated and recommended pubs and restaurants each providing a different experience than the other, some of the defining places of this group in entire Kings Cross area are located in this patch of land, namely Big Chill House, St. Chad’s Pub, Smithy’s Restaurant and Bar. Apart from these mentioned locations, one very significant building located in this site is ‘Scala’.
Scala: It is just not one of the most happening nightclub of London but also serves as a landmark to Kings Cross, standing tall around the station for years, a place that has transformed over time with Kings Cross according to the necessity of London. This music venue has a nice old four floor layout that holds three bars and two dance floors.
Big Chill House: Another landmark of Kings Cross located next to Scala that started at the time when Kings Cross was not a very pleasant area of Central London. What makes it a major attraction in the heart of Kings Cross is its features like modern architecture in the old and heritage environs of Kings Cross and its eclectic music in glamorous interiors having cosy nooks, low benches and a soothing cream-grey colour scheme of the terrace setting, makes it miles above the many other options that Kings Cross offers.
St. Chad’s Place: 06 St. Chad’s Place is a conversion of Victorian warehouse into a restaurant, café, bar designed by Squire and Partners for public and their private practice. The place is concealed on the in skirts of the island (site) near the exposed railway tracks of the underground station right opposite to its architect’s office. Although, it is away from the main street, it still attracts a lot of customers because of its beautiful ambience and enticing menu.
Smithy’s: A five minute walk from the tube station, Smithys has become a popular European Wine Bar and Restaurant known for its cuisine and well stocked Cellar of wines and some of the cocktails attract the evening office crowd to unwind and those coming for fine dining enjoy the antique furniture and look of a forging unit of a blacksmith amidst modernity.
Medical Centers: Again, due to the area’s excellent transport connectivity in London, Kings Cross houses many Medical Centres like Royal ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat Hospital), Deaf and Dumb and Speech Therapy Centres, etc, for the benefit of the citizens and European visitors who come with great deal of hope to London for medical treatment.
Gagosian Gallery: Gagosian Exhibition Centre has become an important landmark of Kings Cross and its founder Larry who started as small art player is now a big draw for the contemporary art with its exhibitions visitors crossing hundred thousand mark.
Kings Cross is one of the best examples of Urban Regeneration through the combined efforts of Public Private Partnerships of converting it into a major transport hub connecting to the continental Europe through hi speed link and convergence of North eastern rail movement and the Underground. St Pancras International ‘s creation has further enhanced the modern look showing future signs of look and feel of the area. All this has transformed the area into a commercial, retail, medical and cultural center by using the heritage structures by providing the modern amenities to attract continuous visitors at relatively inexpensive real estate pricing in Central London compared to the prime parts of Piccadilly, Bakers street, Oxford Street as alternate destination within 15 to 20 minutes distance bringing affordable commerce and trade, much needed for London.
Theatre | CassStudio6 